European scribes chime in on Henry's arrival

AMSTERDAM – Thierry Henry's move to the New York Red Bulls and Major
League Soccer is naturally drawing plenty of fanfare in America, but the
transfer is also drawing reaction in Europe.

As we like to do
from time to time, we hurled a couple of questions at scribes across the
sea to take the pulse in places with ties to the superstar striker.

Again,
we kept things simple: 1) What is the general reaction to Henry's
Barcelona exit for an American adventure in your country, and 2) What
kind of impact do you foresee from him, both on the field and with
soccer's pull in the United States?

There is no question that you're talking about, in terms
of technical ability, one of the better players in the world. He's
probably going to have to change the way he plays a little. He's not
going to be relying on the speed, but folks forget he's a very
technically gifted player, with a tremendous eye for a goal and a
tremendous sense of creativity.

But I also think at Barcelona, he
showed he could be a team player, adapting to the wide role. A lot of
people in England scoff that he was a player Arsenal had unloaded at the
right price, like they did with Patrick Vieira, Marc Overmars or
Emmanuel Petit. In fact, I think Barcelona would tell you they got their
money's worth.

I think it's hard to predict about his impact on
growing the sport in America. The question is, can he appeal to people
outside the soccer fan base? To be honest, I think he can. He's not as
big a name as David Beckham with the public, but the thing about Beckham
is he's not a highlight-type player like Ronaldinho is. So if you're
looking for the guy who can come up with the smart quote or a piece of
skill that gets him on SportsCenter, then certainly, Henry can do
that much more than Beckham.

He scores more goals, he's an
engaging, intelligent, funny guy. You can get Thierry Henry talking on
anything from race to his mom's cooking to the neighborhood he grew up
in. He's a really bright guy, so I think from a marketing perspective,
he's got more staying power than Beckham. Henry may not be as pretty to
look at, but he's a better talker, a better scorer and a more exciting
player to watch.

FRANCE: Hervé Dacquet (Le Parisien)

It was no surprise that he
would finish in New York, but right now, there's not a lot of reaction.
After the World Cup, in France, we had one interview with Thierry Henry
about the crash in South Africa and no more news about his future. Then
we find out news from the web, from New York, with him signing. It was
no surprise. We knew that Barcelona didn't want to keep him this year,
so for him, it's a form of new challenge.

I guess it will be a good impact. We've seen that with Beckham,
for example. He wants to be part of the history of the club and to prove
it's not done yet for him. I think it will be good for him and for the
championship over there.

SPAIN: Paco Roche (Marca)

Henry's goodbye to Barcelona has not
been a surprise in Spain. As a matter of fact, it was quite clear form
about halfway of last season that he would not continue, and the MLS
seemed to be his destination from the beginning.

The thing is that
Barcelona's game is not the best for him. I think he needs big gaps,
long balls to take advantage of his pace – a sort of British team that
plays counterattack football.

How will he do in the US? I'm not very sure. I don't know how the
Red Bulls play, so I can't go much further than that. In any case, he
is a very experienced player that has won every possible tournament, so I
can imagine that he can be a good influence for younger players. I
think you can not compare him with Beckham. Actually, I don't think
anyone can compare with Beckham and the impact he has on the media. As I
said at the beginning, Henry is very respected in Europe because of his
game. If he is in good form, he can be more important on the pitch than
Beckham.